A look out from the Tower of London to the hill were traitors were dragged and hung, where the Gherkin building now stands (the one that looks like a rocket.)
Our tour guide was a famous "Beefeater" (no, it's not just a type of gin) which is their nickname. Their official title is Yeomen Warders. No one is 100% sure where the nickname came from but one theory stems from the fact that, as part of their payment, the Yeomen Warders were allowed to eat as much beef as they wanted from the king's table. This was especially impressive as beef was an expenisive rarity. They are also the official gaurds of the queen and the Crown Jewels. On his chest a picture of the crown and EIIR which stands for Elizabetha Regina II. Regina is latin queen. so Queen Elizabeth the II. Behind him is traitor's gate (Also, see the picture just below). Prisoners accused of treason were all brought up through the gate.
The White Tower.
The spot within the Tower's gate where ten were excuted, the most famous of them: Queen, Anne Boleyn, accused of infidelity and beheaded by a French swordsman on May 19, 1536. Legend has it that the French man was anxious to do his job and brought his sword down a little early catching the Queen off gaurd so when the executioner held up her head to show the crowd, the Queen's eyes were still moving and her lips were still framing her dying prayer. Whoa!!
Carving by prisoners at the Tower of London.
Tower Bridge.
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After Tower of London and Tower Bridge, we headed back across the river to the Southwark area of town. Here is what we saw.
"London Bridge is falling down, falling down"
The Southwark Cathedral. There has been a church on this spot for over 1000 years. Before that there was a roman villa.
Another food on the list: Cornish Pasties. Check. Kind of like a calazone only with hearty stuffings (beef and veggies, lamb and mint, etc.) instead of pizza ingredients.
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I had told Katie earlier after we went to the Bath spa that I wanted to try sensory deprivation sometime. I had heard about it in high school and was always curious. Also, later it appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, "Make Room for Lisa." So what is sensory deprivation you ask? This is how it works: You strip down, take a shower, then get into and lie down in an "isolation tank" filled with salt water that closes to remove all other stimili. The salt water is dense enough that you actually float, making you feel essentially weightless. You wear earplugs so that you cannot hear anything (and so the salt-water doesn't wreck your eardrums) and once the lid of the tank closes there is no sound and it is pitch black. With a lack of distraction, this makes your brain use parts that it doesn't usually use unless you are sleeping or in deep meditation. It also helps lower blood pressure, maximize blood flow and most of all is relaxing...I guess we experienced something somewhere inbetween what Homer and Lisa did, if you've happened to have seen this episode. If not, you can find it here: Click Here, if you want you can watch the entire episode or you can fast forward to 13:25 and watch the rest.
FloatWorks: We found a 2 for 1 coupon so we decided to try it!
No, this is not a space ship but it does look Extra-Terrestrial. This was the isolation tank. It took awhile to turn off your brain and just relax but after we did it ended up being very relaxing and calming. I took awhile to come back into the real world after.
FloatWorks: We found a 2 for 1 coupon so we decided to try it!
No, this is not a space ship but it does look Extra-Terrestrial. This was the isolation tank. It took awhile to turn off your brain and just relax but after we did it ended up being very relaxing and calming. I took awhile to come back into the real world after.
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Since it was just around the corner, we figured why not check out Vinopolis, a new wine museum in London. It was built on the spot where they found ancient Roman wine vats from when the Romans imported wine to Londinium that they had established back around 47 A.D. Picture below.
Some big bottles worth big bucks. In the picture frame in the upper left was a picture of the most expensive bottle sold at auction of all time: Thomas Jefferson's Lafite 1787 sold for £105,000, or $160,000. Now that is an expensive bottle of wine, well by now it's just vinegar!
A cool painting showing the various chateau's of the 1855 classification of Bordeaux in ascending order from bottom to top.
Representing for all y'all back home. Yep, wine is made in Indiana (check out Oliver Winery), Tennessee (check out Chateau Ross) and Montana (Check out Ten Spoon Winery).
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
The Millenium Bridge.
Another angle of Millenium Bridge with St. Paul's in the background.
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